UPDATE: A MAN has been charged with murder after he allegedly stabbed a German backpacker to death in Brisbane.

Police arrested the 33-year-old at his home in Lockrose, west of Brisbane, on Saturday morning and held him for questioning overnight.

The arrest followed an intense manhunt by police investigating the death of a 30-year-old male tourist who was repeatedly stabbed in the abdomen and back in an apparent random rage-fuelled attack on Milton Rd, Brisbane at about 4am on Friday.

Police said the German tourist and a friend had been walking across the road when they became involved in an angry altercation with a man and woman in a car.

The man, who was believed to be the driver of the car, then produced a knife and stabbed the victim before fleeing the scene.

Two tradies on their way to work stopped to help the bloodied tourist and a passing female jogger phoned for help.

He was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital but died from his injuries at about 11.30am on Friday.

The Lockrose man is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday October 9.

Backpackers in Brisbane say they have been left shocked and unsure of their safety following the brutal attack.

A 22-year-old woman from Finland said the attack had scared several of her friends from going out alone at night.

"I probably wouldn't want to be out by myself late at night but for the most part I haven't felt any more unsafe in Brisbane [than elsewhere]," she said.

An 18-year-old German man who just arrived in Australia said he didn't know the stabbing victim personally but felt "connected" to the seemingly random attack.

"It makes you think it could really have been anyone. He was just unlucky to be there at that time," he said.

Police vow to catch backpacker's killer

EARLIER: POLICE have vowed they won't stop until the killer of a German tourist has been brought to justice.

A night out in Brisbane ended in tragedy in the early hours of yesterday morning when the backpacker was stabbed in a random rage-fuelled attack on Milton Rd.

The 30-year-old tourist and a friend were walking across the road when they became involved in an argument with the occupants of a car.

Police said voices were raised and the loud and angry altercation ­escalated to violence.

The driver then produced a knife and repeatedly stabbed the tourist in the upper body before fleeing.

"Today is a tragedy," Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said.

"There is a family on the other side of the world who will be getting news that someone they love is not coming home the way they expected."

He vowed police would not stop until they had caught the attacker.

"To the gentleman involved ... we are not going to stop looking, so we would ask that you make yourself known to us."

Witnesses heard a female passenger screaming at the men to stop.

Two tradies on their way to work stopped to help the bloodied man and a passing female jogger phoned for help.

At least 10 critical care paramedics and a Queensland Ambulance Service doctor worked to resuscitate the man at the scene.

He was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital where he died at 11.30am.

His friend, also a German backpacker, was uninjured.

Police have launched a homicide investigation and are appealing for witnesses or those with dash cam footage to contact them.